Ireland sixth in world sustainability rankings — RobecoSAM

The rather impressive findings, which rank Ireland ahead of countries like Denmark and even Germany, were compiled by investment firm RobecoSAM, which specialises in looking at how sustainable a market is from an environmental perspective.

The firm describe the reasoning behind its findings as a ranking that “recognises that a country’s ability to safeguard the needs of its future generations extends beyond the protection of the environment and encompasses a broader range of social, economic and governance objectives”.

This was then broken into three categories covering the actual environmental endeavours being undertaken in these countries, the cultural demand for a cleaner society (social) and government policy to limit carbon emissions.

The top of the list might not come as surprise to many with Sweden achieving the top spot followed by Switzerland, Norway, the UK, New Zealand and then Ireland, the latter of which received a 7/10 score compared with Sweden, which achieved 8/10.

The entire ranking system comprised of 60 countries, with the worst ranked nation being Nigeria, which only achieved a score of 1.8/10.

The report goes on to highlight Ireland as an example to look up to as being one of the most improved countries in the list.

RobecoSAM’s senior portfolio manager Rikkert Scolten said its recent efforts have “helped Ireland to become the fastest-growing EU economy, with its GDP expected to expand by 3.5pc in 2015, making it a successful example of how diligent reforms can put a country back on track.”

This, Scholten says, has seen it rise again in the rankings to bring it on a par with Germany in terms of sustainability efforts.